


in firing range

by notkai



Series: rotting in rarepair hell (to be renamed at a later date) [2]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, M/M, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Relationship Discussions, Shovel Talk, Useless Vampires, and she makes sure kaleb knows, discussion of sexuality, figuring out boundaries, i love these dumb gay vampires, penelope would commit murder on behalf of mg, protective penelope park, too many mortal kombat references for someone who has never played mk, vampires in love, you don't need to read 'it takes some getting used to' to understand this one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2020-01-16 05:37:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18514984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notkai/pseuds/notkai
Summary: Kaleb is, not of his own volition, introduced to Penelope.





	in firing range

**Author's Note:**

> welcome back to the second edition of MG and Kaleb being gay! I would have gotten this up sooner, but my laptop went out of commission (rip toshibitch). But I'm back and I have at least two more pieces planned for this series! I was honestly overjoyed when I got positive reviews on the last fic. If you like this one, please leave a kudos or comment! They fuel me. Thank you for reading!

 

 

    After that initial kiss, there was a lot of talking. A lot. More than Kaleb thought he would be comfortable with. But MG had a way of bringing up subjects like intimacy and boundaries in a way that didn't make Kaleb feel like he had to bolt. For the first time, Kaleb actually felt inclined to participate in meaningful, relationship-based conversations like that. And he supposed that was a good thing- these talks happened with his boyfriend, after all. 

    The b-word was another long, long conversation. They talked about what it meant to be each others' boyfriends, and what sort of commitment it established between the two of them. They talked about their sexualities (up to a certain point) and whether or not they wanted others to know that they were dating. MG was fine with it, and Kaleb was indifferent. Whether or not other people knew was of little importance to him. MG was all that mattered.

    The way that MG made Kaleb feel was entirely new territory for him. For the first time, Kaleb actually understood what people meant when they said they had butterflies in their stomach. Being around MG made something warm and comforting bloom inside of Kaleb's chest, and he found himself unable to look away whenever MG laughed- that was unless he was actively closing his eyes to kiss MG, which also happened a lot. Kaleb knew that MG was prone to talking himself in circles, and while he knew how important these conversations were, Kaleb found it beneficial to silence MG with a gentle kiss every now and again. 

    Plus, a rosy blush would spread over MG's cheeks whenever Kaleb kissed him, and that was cute as fuck. 

    They had collectively decided to be public with their relationship, in a casual way. There was no announcement or fanfare, but they wouldn't hide it from anyone. Kaleb still remembered how hesitant MG had been when he asked Kaleb about it. 

    He had come up to Kaleb while he was putting his hair up, a mess of bobby pins and ponytail holders spread out on the counter in front of him. "Hey, Kaleb?" 

    _"Hmm?" Kaleb would normally turn around and kiss MG in greeting, but he was holding three bobby pins between his lips while he tried to get a particularly difficult dread to stay with the rest of his hair._

_MG slowly closed the bathroom door behind him and walked up to stand next to Kaleb, his steps hesitant. Kaleb knew he was going to say something important, so he remained quiet and waited._

_The first thing MG asked was, "Are you out?"_

_Kaleb was quiet for a few moments as he contemplated his answer and finally got his hair to cooperate with him. He eventually said, "Not officially. But I'm fine with that, you know? Like, I don't really assign any one particular label to my sexuality, so there's nothing to really come out about. Plus, I've never been especially interested in what people think of who I'm with."_

_MG seemed to understand. He nodded and absentmindedly twirled a bobby pin in his hand._

_"Why do you ask?"_

_MG finally got to his actual point. He set the bobby pin down and turned to face Kaleb, who did the same. "I want us to be able to, like, hold hands in public and shit- not public, but like, around school- if you're comfortable with it," he explained all in one breath. "And I figured you wouldn't be comfortable with that sort of thing if you weren't out."_

_Kaleb nodded. "I appreciate that, man." And he did- that warm, comforting bloom behind his chest was glowing with affection and something Kaleb didn't have the language for yet. All he knew is that knowing how much MG cared made him feel some sort of way._

_He continued, "And I'm totally good with PDA. You're too cute to ignore just because we'd be around other people." That made MG blush and smile at the sink. Kaleb hid a small smile himself._

_MG kissed Kaleb on the cheek and, with the expression of a cat about to shred the curtains, reached up and tugged a particularly important bobby pin out of Kaleb's hair. Immediately, his hair was falling in his face again. "Dude, what the fuck?" Kaleb lamented. He would have turned and messed up MG's hair in some way for revenge, but MG had already left._

    Kaleb, while never labeling his sexuality, was aware that people thought he was straight. Not just that- he knew he gave off ultra-straight dude-bro no-homo vibes. It came along with being sporty and feeding almost exclusively on women, he supposed. But what could he say? Female blood just tasted better. 

    With that in mind, Kaleb had expected some stares when he kissed MG at his locker. He expected some stares when they walked down the hall hand-in-hand. He expected the odd whisper or errant question when MG decided Kaleb's lap was more comfortable than the lounge chairs in the library. And normally, Kaleb wasn't very patient or kind towards those who stared and whispered. He preferred for conversation to be upfront, especially if that conversation was shit-talking in disguise. If anyone had shit to talk about MG, Kaleb wanted to hear it out loud, so he knew who's ass needed kicking. But MG had made him promise to not beat up any fellow classmates, no matter how much they stared, and Kaleb had been absolutely smitten by his puppy eyes. So he agreed and ignored the stares, side-eyes, whispers, rumors, questions, and even the fucking picture someone took of them. 

    What Kaleb had  _not_ expected was Penelope Park entering the picture. 

    Kaleb knew of Penelope. He knew who she was, but he would consider them vague and circumstantial acquaintances at best. He knew MG was close to Penelope- the two hung out often, and Penelope had her own account signed into MG's Xbox. Kaleb knew he should probably go out of his way to introduce himself to her- it seemed like the appropriate thing to do, given that she was close to his significant other. But their schedules had no overlap, and honestly, Kaleb wasn't much of a conversationalist. MG didn't seem bothered by it, so he decided to leave the subject- and Penelope- alone. 

    And, if Kaleb were being honest with himself, he wanted to avoid being dragged into the petty drama that always seemed to trail Penelope's name. He tried to stay out of gossip as best he could, but Kaleb was not ignorant to the culture of the Salvatore School and the words that traveled through the halls. He knew Penelope had a past with Josie Saltzman that had ended in a bitter rivalry with both the twins. He knew Penelope was notorious for her snappy one-liners and abrasive exterior. He knew Penelope was something of a seductress, or at least she was portrayed to be. 

    Kaleb supposed that last rumor ought to bother him more than it did. Or maybe it bothered him just the right amount- which was not very much at all. Kaleb really didn't care how many people Penelope slept with, and he really didn't care that someone with such a reputation was hanging out with his boyfriend. Kaleb was confident in MG's commitment to their relationship. 

    And he knew how shitty it was to be on the receiving end of negative gossip and rumors. Kaleb had heard his fair share of his name in whispers through the halls- that he fed on humans (true), that he had threatened to kill Officer Ric (sort of true), and that he forced girls to sleep with him before he fed (absolutely not true). Perhaps that was why Kaleb was inclined to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to the rumors surrounding Penelope's sex life. 

    Also, it was none of his business. 

    And maybe,  _maybe,_ Kaleb was a little bit intimidated by Penelope Park, or at least the confidence she wore like armor. Maybe. Just a little bit. 

    So Kaleb, although not actively keeping away from her, essentially ignored Penelope Park's friendship with MG. He ignored Penelope, for the most part. But that became a bit more difficult when he opened the door to MG's dorm and found MG and Penelope sprawled out in a couple of beanbags, apparently beating the shit out of each other in Mortal Kombat 11. 

    MG looked up and smiled when he saw Kaleb- as well as the plate of pizza rolls he held, probably- and Penelope (playing D'Vorah, Kaleb noted with a mental nod of approval) used that as an opportunity to punt Jax Briggs out of the arena. MG glanced back at the screen when he heard the character death tone playing and groaned. "What the fuck, Pen, that's cheating!"

    "And it worked." Penelope set the controller down and turned to look at Kaleb. He was struck for a moment by how piercing her gaze was. Penelope's eyes were tinted an amber color by the orange light coming from the TV screen, but the color somehow lacked warmth. Kaleb couldn't help but feel a bit naked as her eyes bored into his. "Are those for us?"

    Kaleb was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what Penelope was referring to before remembering why he had come to MG's room in the first place- he had been bringing his boyfriend a study snack (and if, say, two months ago, anyone had told him that he would be performing such a terribly sappy act, he would have laughed in their face). 

     "I- uh, yeah. I don't see why not." Kaleb walked over to the little organizer that contained MG's stash of video games and set the plate of pizza rolls on top. "I thought y'all were working on Latin incantations in here?"

    "We were," MG said, a bit sheepishly. Kaleb tried his best not to smile at how cute MG looked- like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. MG gestured to his bed, where a sprawl of notebooks and folders had taken over most of the surface. "But we got bored. Seriously, magickal linguistics is dull as fuck." 

    Kaleb had elected not to take magickal linguistics, opting instead to take plain Greek etymology as his secondary language course. When Kaleb was first shown a course catalogue for the Salvatore School, Dr. Saltzman had been quick to point out that there was a fairly even amount of supernatural-based and mundane classes offered. Even the normal classes had a supernatural skew to them, though. 

    Still, he nodded in agreement and tried to find something to say. Kaleb rarely found himself speechless, but something about Penelope's gaze on him chilled the words before they even formed. MG either didn't notice, or didn't mind. He grabbed the plate of pizza rolls and began ranting about the dumbass grammar rules of Latin in between bites of rolls. Kaleb lacked the context to understand a good portion of the rules he was ranting about, but MG was cute enough that he didn't mind. 

    Eventually, Penelope plucked a pizza roll out of MG's hand and smiled sweetly in response to his offended gasp. "Why don't we switch games? I have A Way Out in my room if you want to grab it." 

    "Sure. I was running out of ways to get my ass beat anyway," MG said with a gesture to the screen, still paused on D'Vorah's victory. Kaleb smiled a bit at that, but it quickly faded when he realized he was going to be alone with Penelope. 

    Sure enough, once MG left the room, Penelope waved her hand. The door locked behind them with a quiet  _snick._

    Penelope didn't say anything for a moment, just looked at Kaleb with a knowing smile. Kaleb felt bare and exposed, being stared down by her. He was suddenly very aware of how awkwardly he was holding himself, and walked over to MG's desk chair and assumed what he hoped looked like a casual reclining position. Really, it probably looked like someone figuring out how to sit for the first time. Penelope's eyes followed him across the room. Once she deemed him uncomfortable enough to proceed, she gave him a smile that was all teeth and asked, "How long have you and MG been dating?"

    That wasn't the question Kaleb had been expecting. Surely, being as close to MG as she was, Penelope would have known the second he and MG made things official- and she probably knew about MG's crush long before Kaleb did. Maybe this was a test of some sort? Kaleb wasn't one for pop quizzes, but he felt this was an assessment that he didn't want to fail. "A couple months ago," Kaleb replied. And it was true- their three month anniversary was coming up in two short weeks. 

    Penelope nodded, her expression unchanging. "MG and I have been friends for a while- since our freshman year here, actually," she mused. "And you know MG- he's kind of a shrimp. And an optimistic one at that. So he was sometimes a target for...pranks, and the like."

    Kaleb nodded. He could have guessed as much, but he was beginning to wonder what the relevance of this was. Was Penelope worried that Kaleb was bullying MG?

    She pressed on before Kaleb could ask anything. With an air of casual relaxation that betrayed the calculating light in her eyes, Penelope said, "So, being the wonderful friend I was and am, I found out when people were harassing MG. And I made sure they never did it again."

    Suddenly, the purpose of the talk became much, much clearer. Penelope sat up, and the intensity of her gaze seemed to increase. The smile, which bordered on mocking, never faltered. Kaleb resisted the urge to shudder as she addressed him directly. "Do you remember Liam Sarca? The kid who broke a collarbone and two ribs by falling off his bed a couple years ago? That was me. Because he was making MG miserable.

    "I know that you care about MG- I can see it in the way you look at him. But that doesn't mean you aren't capable of hurting him. And if you ever do hurt him, Kaleb, I will know about it. And I will make you wish you had never  _known_ MG. Sound good?"

    It really didn't sound good, but Penelope just unlocked the door with another flick of her hand. And right in time, too- MG opened the door a second later with the video game in question. "God, this took me forever to find- your room is a mess, dude."

    Kaleb was still staring at Penelope, feeling distinctly like he'd been dunked into a tub of cold water. As an older brother, Kaleb was normally the one giving the shovel talks, not the other way around. He had never realized how truly...well, intimidating it was to receive one. Especially from Penelope Park. 

    "Kaleb? Yo, Kaleb?" MG snapped his fingers a couple times, bringing Kaleb back into the present. Penelope had that smile again- that knowing smirk. He had to admit, it was a look that suited her. "You good, man?"

    "Yeah. Just remembered that I have a class soon." And it was partially true- Kaleb did have a class coming up, but it wasn't for another forty minutes. He felt awkward being around Penelope, though, at least at and in the moment. 

    MG nodded and leaned forward to kiss Kaleb. Kissing MG was one of Kaleb's favorite pastimes- his lips were soft and full, and he always tasted like the cherry chapstick he carried around everywhere. As Kaleb pulled away from him and murmured a goodbye, he could see Penelope watching them from the corner of her eye. Her smile was a bit more gentle, more fond, than before. Or maybe it was just the light.

    Kaleb didn't stick around to find out. He did have an imaginary class to get to, after all. 

 

    Later that night, Kaleb was in bed with MG. Kaleb had one arm around MG's shoulders, and MG was lying with his head on Kaleb's shoulder and one leg draped over his hips. Convincing Dr. Saltzman that occasionally sharing a room for the night was  _not_  inherently inappropriate had been a long and tedious battle. MG's puppy-eye pleas, in conjunction with his filibuster-style rants about how  _sharing a bed was not a sexual activity_  and how  _relationships didn't always need to be sexual_  had worn Dr. Saltzman down to the point where he turned a blind eye when they didn't seem to find their way back to their own rooms. 

    It was worth the time and effort it took to convince him, though. Kaleb couldn't think of a single place he would rather be than in bed with his boyfriend cuddled up to him. MG was nearly asleep, and his voice reflected as much when he murmured, "Baby?"

    Immediately, something warm coiled up in Kaleb's stomach. He would never get used to MG calling him 'baby'. "Hm?"

    MG shifted enough to be able to glance up at Kaleb. "Did something happen earlier while I was gone? With you and Penelope, I mean?"

    "Nah, everything was fine." Kaleb's voice must not have agreed with his words, because MG immediately followed up with: 

    "Something definitely happened. What was it? Did she say something rude?"

    "No! She didn't s-"

    "-oh my god, did she  _threaten_ you?" MG sat up, propping himself up with one arm on either side of Kaleb's torso. The smile he was wearing was infuriatingly adorable. "She totally threatened you, didn't she?" 

    Kaleb huffed and turned away from MG. "Yes, she did. She gave me the whole "if you hurt my little baby, I'll break all your bones" kinda spiel." MG laughed and leaned down to press his forehead against Kaleb's. 

    "Did she scare you?" MG teased, brushing the tip of his nose against Kaleb's. "Don't pay her any attention. She's...mostly bark."

    "We both know that's bullshit, but alright." Kaleb wrapped his arms around MG's waist and pulled him back down to cuddle with him. MG complied happily, returning to the little nook he had carved out of Kaleb's side. 

    MG fell asleep not long after, but sleep evaded Kaleb for a while longer. He kept thinking about the smile Penelope had been wearing when he and MG kissed. It was something warm and affectionate, which Kaleb would have assumed to look out-of-place on Penelope's typically cold face. But it had seemed genuine. Penelope cared about MG, Kaleb could tell that easily. She wanted him to be happy. 

    Kaleb knew from rumors and Penelope's own admission that proximity to Penelope Park could be a dangerous thing. But Kaleb cared about MG, so his and Penelope's interests were aligned. He supposed the shovel talks were part of the job description. And, with MG asleep in his arms, Kaleb decided it was a risk worth taking. 

    

    

   

    


End file.
